In the exercise of their public functions, state administration bodies are subject to the free competition legislation of countries. While the actions of public organizations that are expressly governed by law do not constitute an anti-competitive conduct per se, they are not exempt from legal scrutiny in situations where they exceed their powers by making decisions that may affect free competition in markets.
In addition, in exercising their functions, public services have a constant and important interaction with economic operators. Therefore, many of their decisions can have an impact on competition in the markets in which those actors participate.
Thus, it is vitally important to discuss the reasonableness of the elements that underpin the decisions of public organizations, as well as the potential effects that they may have on the good performance of the competitive process.
Moreover, public sector bodies should ensure that their actions (rules or administrative acts) do not distort free competition in markets, thus ensuring that their decisions are based on criteria of free competition and adopting sufficient preventive measures to understand and manage the risks of free competition in the public sector.
Accordingly, the need arises for the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA) and the Free Competition Program of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile to unify efforts and train public organizations whose decisions have a direct impact on markets of paramount importance to society (e.g., telecommunications, health, public infrastructure). To that end, an online training is proposed for managers of public organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean.